As learners become more skilled at observation, they become more capable of perceiving and interpreting important aspects of situations. When presented with a new situation, strong perceptual learners are able to understand it by attending to important and relevant elements. Those who have more deeply developed perceptual learning will be able to identify relevant patterns of circumstances more quickly those with less well-developed perceptual learning. They can also make critical judgements more quickly and with greater accuracy than those with less well-developed perceptual learning.
As an adult, I have developed a taste for watching soccer. This is the result of my children playing soccer for many years, my watching televised matches with them, and observing their more skilled assessments of the play. As I have learned more about the game, and observed other experts’ interpretations of matches and play, I have become a more independent perceptual learner. I now react in the same way to good play as more experienced soccer fans, so I am able to use my perceptual skills to learn about a particular match in manner I was not able to previously.